


Cheating Death

by Kyoki777



Series: 13 Nights of Haunted Tomione [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Eventual Smut, F/M, Grim reaper tom, Halloween Prompts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-08-04 10:38:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16345187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyoki777/pseuds/Kyoki777
Summary: Hermione Granger had plans for life, so when she finds out that Death was coming for her, she takes matters into her own hands.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shadowedcries](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowedcries/gifts).



> Hello lovelies! It is October 19th, and just as promised, I have posted the first prompt for the 13 nights of haunted Tomione. I want to thank shadowedcries for the prompt, as it gave me much amusement writing it, and she has been looking for someone to write it for awhile. I am honored and hope I did it justice for you. 
> 
> P.S. the actual prompt got way out of hand, so I will be posting another chapter of this in order to finish the story. Hope you guys enjoy it. Feel free to send me a prompt if you want to join the haunted Tomione Challenge. You can send me an ask on tumblr. My blog name is Kyoki777.

 

Hermione Jean Granger had big plans for her life, she had since a young age. While her classmates had focused on socializing, making friends, dating, she had focused on more important things, such as school. She wanted to make something of herself, to help make the world a better place, and in order to do that, she couldn't afford distractions such as friendships and dating. She had always focused on her goals, studying, working hard, volunteering, and she was embarrassed to say that she had been a bit of a radical and stirred some pots by starting strikes for house workers. All of her hard work had paid off, had gotten her exactly where she wanted to be, accepted into Hogwarts University, where she was going to school medical school. She made friends for the first time in her life, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, had even dated. She was the second in her class, though she still battled every day to become the first. She was going places, she would make something of herself, help people, just as she always had dreamed. Unfortunately, all good things must come to the end.

It had started benignly enough, the headaches, fatigue, blurred vision. She wrote it off, after all, she was pre med, her life was studying, exams, late nights and all nighters, throw in a part time job and a boyfriend, it would stand to reason that she was tired. After all, there was only so much a body could take before it started to wear down. So she got rid of her boyfriend, Viktor Krum, after all, it had become increasingly obvious that they didn't have anything in common. It gave her much needed time, and things should have gotten better. Months went by, and still she felt out of sorts, but she was stubborn, it was just stress. It wasn't until she lost consciousness during a class and was taken to the hospital that she found out the reason behind her symptoms. It was that day that her world turned upside down. 

She could barely believe the words coming out of the surgeons mouth. How was it possible, that she, a 19 year old, with her whole life ahead of her, had an aneurysm. She listened in shock as the doctor informed her that she had a brain aneurysm in her brain, more specifically the Circle of Willis. She knew what that meant, knew that a brain aneurysm was a death sentence. Her brain, one of the things she valued the most about herself, was a ticking time bomb. She was going to die, not as an old woman as she had always imagined, but as a young woman, maybe in her twenties. She left the hospital numb, her parents guiding her home. On the way home they suggested she withdraw from school, that she spend time with them. She knew what they were asking, what they were saying. There was no hope for recovery, the blood vessel in her brain would pop, if she didn't die from it.. Well her life would never be the same. She listened to her parents, knowing how much they cared for her, how they wanted to spend as much time as they could with her, but she couldn't. They had given up hope, had written her off. She couldn't do that to herself, she couldn't just accept that she was going to die young. She wouldn't. She had things to do in her life, people to help. She would get through this. She would survive. 

Months had passed, her 20th birthday coming and going quickly. She hadn't quit school, much to her parents dismay, but they accepted her decision, understood that she wasn't the type to sit around and wait to die. Still, she made a compromise and lived t home with them, commuting to school each day instead. She quit her part time job, in order to spend more time with her family, at least partly. She never gave up, each day she looked for a solution to her problem, a way to extend her life, to make sure she could accomplish her goals, to fulfill her calling. It took months of research, months of planning, combing through ancient books that many thought were fiction, but she finally found her answer, finally found how to cheat death.

Reapers.

She had been skeptical at first, she wasn't going to lie, the idea that there were creatures that roamed the earth, collecting the souls of those that departed, the logical part of her brain thought it was hogwash. She believed ins science, in medicine, yet, those had failed her. So she did was she did best, she planned, she studied. She found a spell which allowed her to enchant a notebook, allowing her to see the names, places, and times that people would die. It was in the autumn months that she saw a name she recognized in her book.

Myrtle Warren.  
March 31st,2018  
6:56pm  
London, England  
Age 19  
Suicide

It had been horrid knowing that the girl was going to die, horrid to know that the girl was going to kill herself in two days time, not knowing how to stop it, or if she could. Instead Hermione watched, watched as Myrtle Warren was bullied during her classes, how the girl was miserable. It was only a few minutes that she could stand watching it. Instead she jumped into action, not knowing if she could actually prevent the girls death, but it was worth a try. So she defended the girl, talked to her, told her she was there to talk to. She gave the girl hope, spent the lunch period with her, even introduced her to Ron and Harry. Hermione convinced the girl to spend time with her, to go to the movies with her. She went out of her way to cheer the girl up, to get to know her. When she finally went home, she looked at the enchanted tomb, staring at the space that had once held Myrtles name. She couldn't help the grin that took over her face. She had done it. She had helped Myrtle cheat death. She had changed Myrtles fate. For the first time in months, she felt hope, hope that she could actually change her own fate. Perhaps she could survive after all. All she had to do, was figure a way how.

It was over the next few weeks that she stalked victims in the book, trying to catch a glimpse of the elusive Grim Reaper, needing to know exactly what she was up against. It was the death of Bellatrix Lestrange that allowed her to find out the true face of death. It had all started out normally, Hermione watching the girl from the shadows as she went to the movies, meeting up with a few of her husbands friends. Hermione recognized them from school, especially the tall, handsome dark haired boy with fair skin. She watched in silence and anticipation as the brunette shamelessly flirted with Tom Riddle in front of her husband. It was disgusting, to see such shameless flirting, and the fact that her husband just took it, well, that was something that Hermione couldn't understand. She watched as the brunette separated from Tom Riddle, the most wanted boy at Hogwarts, head of his class, and sauntered down the street, the group of boys chatting as the girl went across the street.

She knew it was coming, knew the way the Bellatrix would die, but it was still horrifying, to watch as the girl was smashed into by a car, her body flying in the air. Hermione looked down at her watch, checking the time to see it was a few minutes before the book said...that meant.. Her eyes snapped back to where Bellatrix laid, her husband now by her side, his friends calling 999 for help. All but one. She wasn't sure what drew her eyes to him, but she felt compelled to watch him. He didn't look vaguely disturbed, almost as if he was expecting it. She watched as Lestrange suddenly leaned over his wife's body, his body shaking from the force of his tears. It was only then that Tom Riddle acted. He walked to his friend, placing a hand on his shoulder. He said something to the man, but Hermione was too far away to hear, whatever he said caused his friend to leave. Still Hermione's eyes never left Tom. He was acting strange, why wasn't he trying to help the girl? Sure, Hermione knew that it was useless, the woman was dead now, but why did he seem so calm? She watched as he knelt down, checking for Bellatrix’s pulse, though there would be none. He reached out and touched the woman's face, to anyone who wasn't paying attention, it looked like he was merely closing her eyes, but she saw it. It all happened in a few seconds, but she watched as white light seemed to pass from Bellatrix’s body, and into Tom’s fingers, flowing up his arm. She stared in horror as she watched him smile, noticing how he seemed just a little bit younger then he had before, how he held himself straighter, as if he had more life to him. His smiled chilled her to the bone, for it was then she realized what the lore never mentioned.

Grim Reapers did not transport souls to the afterlife. They consumed them, fed on the dead. She watched in silence as help arrived much too late, as the police asked for details, Tom Riddle speaking on behalf of the boys, the only one who seemed to be able to hold his composure. She watched him for a few minutes, unsure what to do with this information. Should she approach him? Beg for her life? No, he wouldn't listen to her, to him she was nothing but a food source. She didn't stay long, not wanting for him to see her, not wanting his attention right now.

She turned from the scene of the accident, unaware of two piercing brown eyes that watched as she left, a ghost of a smirk on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to get this next chapter out. I think this is only going to be a three chapter series. Hope ya'll enjoy it.

Tom Riddle could honestly say that eternity was boring. He had been on earth since the creation of the Universe. After all, as all things began, they also ended. It was with Life that he was born, his role in the universe crystal clear. In order to live, others must die. It was a lonely existence at first, feeding off animals as nature took its course. Animals were not intelligent, they couldn't amuse him. They were like him down to their core though, wanting to live, consuming to survive, to reproduce, to prosper. They fought for survival every day, but it was futile, cause in the end, they all died. 

It was in his boredom that he created them, Adam and Eve, in his own image. They were supposed to be like him, to help him consume the life from the other creatures on the planet. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. They were just like all the other animals, brainless, nature driving them to survive, to procreate. They fed on the souls of creatures, and they fucked. It was unbecoming in Tom’s opinion, and he loathed them as they bore children. He watched as their children grew and the cycle repeated itself. It was then that man kind was born, for the spawn of Adam and Eve could not consume souls like their parents, like him. 

Humans were much like the animals that he fed on, desperate to survive, to live, but they had one major difference that Tom admired. Their intelligence. They were creative, the children of his creations, they created such amusing things, all for the sake of convenience, to extend their lives. It was amusing really, especially because in the end, they died just like the animals they truly were.

It was that reality that brought him to consume his first human soul. It was the son of his creation that was his first, Abel. It had been amusing, watching as Abel was killed by his brother. It hadn't been hard to convince Cain to kill his brother, so very easy. It all amounted to jealousy, Cain's parents doted on Abel, adored him more then their first born. All it took was rubbing a bit of salt in that wound. 

In the end, consuming Abel’s soul was just as delicious as watching his brother kill him. 

It was Abel that was his first, but he wasn't his last. Humans quickly became his preferred choice to sustain his own life, they were so much more potent. It was more then that though, it was the way they looked at him as the light faded from their eyes, the fear of their death that fed his addiction.

Centuries went on, humans reproducing like cockroaches, spreading out upon the earth. Tom followed them watching them, letting them die. Those whose souls he didn't consume ended up going back into the universe, and being reborn.

It had been a surprise the first time he had realized that was what happened to the souls, and it was all because of her that he realized it. 

He had met her in Greece. She had been a student of Plato, going against everything that her culture believed. Women were inferior to men, they were only meant to be bred, to bear children, to care for the home. It was not something that she would ever do. 

Hermione had been like that from the beginning, always pushing social norms, striving for something more then to just live. She was the first human that truly caught his attention, made him want to get to know her, to understand her before he consumed her soul.

She was fascinating, in every aspect, fought him in every way, at every turn. Where other humans would fear him, would listen to his opinions, she would meet him head on. Every single time without fail. First it was with philosophy, she called his views rubbish, gave facts to back up her ideas. It infuriated him and made him desire her at the same time.

When her time came, at the tender ago of 17, he went to take her soul, to consume her. 

Others would have cowered when he came to take them, would have pleaded, cried, screamed, even gotten angry. She hadn't. Such things were below her. She had stared him down, honey brown eyes shining defiantly. She had told him to do it, to take her.

It was her defiance in the face of death that made him do exactly as she asked, had him kissing her feverishly, consuming her in a different way entirely. 

She had died after he had his way with her, an aneurysm taking her from him forever.

So he thought.

It was centuries later that he met her again, the same vision that she had been previously. Those honey brown eyes had met his with no recognition in them. At first, he had thought it was a coincidence. That this woman was just an echo of his Hermione. In the end, he knew the truth. Those souls that he did not consume would be reborn, would come back. He hadn't been able to help himself, had courted her in that time, had married her, and then, when she turned 20 she died in her sleep.

He knew it would happen eventually, knew she would die, knew he would be left without her. It was then he realized how pointless his life was, how empty it was without her in it. He hated her for it. 

The next few times she was reborn he ignored her, avoiding her like the plague, despite how he felt drawn to her. Each time she would die, from the same cause, an aneurysms. Sometimes it was different, she would die in her sleep, others she would just collapse. 

It was in the 1800s when her last reincarnation had worn him down, had him back with her, in his arms. He had told her that time, what he was, wanting her to understand him just as much as he understood her. He wasn't sure she believed him at first, not until she had witnessed him consume a soul in front of her. It was the first time he had seen her with fear in her eyes when she looked at him. It had broken a part of him to see that fear in her eyes, directed at him. He had approached her, determined to make her understand that this was how he live, much like how animals ate other animals, but he never got a chance.

It was the first time that she had died differently. He could have stopped it had he not made such a mistake, not have let her catch him, her death was entirely his fault that time. 

He had approached her, telling her it was ok, but she had run into the night. He went after her, but she had gotten too far ahead of him. 

It was hours later that he found her, laying dead in the middle of the street. She had been stabbed to death a mugging gone wrong. He never got the chance to explain to her, never got the chance to convince her it was ok.

Then came this lifetime, this Hermione. It had been amazing to watch as she realized she was going to die, to see not fear, but determination that clouded her eyes. His logical Hermione abandoned the science and facts that he knew she cherished and turned to what she considered to be myths, rubbish. 

He had created the spell for her, on that he controlled, so that she could “track” deaths, so she could see him for what he was, but she had surprised him. Instead of waiting to watch him kill, she saved Myrtle Warren. 

It had been a setback, but it was amusing, and so much like her he couldn't help but feel excited. 

The next time he put a name in the book she had enchanted it had been Bellatrix. He knew she wouldn't try to save this one, knew that the bad blood between them would cause her to just watch this time. 

He was right. 

He could feel her eyes watching them as they went to cross the street, as Bellatrix went first and was killed instantly by a car. He had felt her staring into his back as he approached the dead woman. He consumed the woman's soul, knowing she had seen it. He had looked up just in time to see the brief look of fear followed by understanding cross her face. 

He watched as she walked away, no doubt formulating a plan. 

He couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face was she left, unaware he watched her. 

It was only a matter of time before he saw her again.

All he had to do was wait.


End file.
